


The City Inside the Bubble

by YaGirlJuniper



Series: Juniper's Touhou Fan Canon [8]
Category: City of Heroes, Touhou Project
Genre: ADHD, Arguing, Autism, Body Type Headcanons, Comedy, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Established Relationship, F/F, Girls Kissing, Headcanon, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Marisa has ADHD, Marisa is Fat, Married Couple, Metafiction, Modern Era, Neurodiversity, Post-Canon, References to Canon, Reimu is Autistic, Reimu is Brown, Skin Color Headcanons, Superheroes, Supervillains, Undoing the End of the World, Urban Fantasy, Video Game Mechanics, Wives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25545784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaGirlJuniper/pseuds/YaGirlJuniper
Summary: After a grueling battle that left Gensokyo in tatters, a Supervillain from a fallen universe still yet looms. Reimu & Marisa, joined by their sidekick Sumireko, are determined to stop her, entering the City full of Superheroes that appeared in her wake. Upon arrival, Marisa immediately gets everyone in trouble, but they soon discover that the residents of the City are friendly and used to seeing visitors from other dimensions, and are willing to assist and accommodate them.This is a preview of City of Gensokyo: Specter of Fallen Fantasy, a much larger work to come. The final work will be a massive trilogy about saving the world while never forgetting to save the people you love, with Reimu & Marisa's married status being important to the plot while not being the plot by itself.
Relationships: Hakurei Reimu/Kirisame Marisa
Series: Juniper's Touhou Fan Canon [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1320842
Kudos: 2





	The City Inside the Bubble

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover. This story takes place near the midpoint of a much larger work entitled City of Gensokyo: Specter of Fallen Fantasy, which will be written in full at a later date. The City itself is part of the fallen City of Heroes, a world filled with Superheroes and Supervillains, chronologically set in a modern-day American city, and while some of the technology present is fantastical, the setting is technically a short time in the past compared to today, as City of Heroes was lost in 2012. It represents a moment of levity in an otherwise grim tale full of trauma, loss, and hardship.

In the office stood a blonde, epauletted young woman clad in a long-sleeved dress made of spandex, its gradient moving from red at her neck to blue at the end of her skirt, sleeves tucked into her folded white gloves, which matched her boots. Her back turned, she spoke with commanding authority. “Report.”

 **Ms. Liberty  
****ミーズ・リバチー**  
Leader of the Vindicators and Longbow

The Longbow Warden recounted, “At 1900 hours, Longbow team Epsilon-Delta-556 responded to a report of a mass-destruction-class weapon with cataclysmic potential being discharged in Atlas Park. When I arrived at the scene, my team already had the prime suspect and her accomplices surrounded. Suspect was a blonde witch named Marissa, flanked by a caped schoolgirl named Sumireko and a red-and-white-clad Shinto shamaness named Reimu. I ID’d the weapon, a handheld device of Magical origin, and confirmed signs of recent discharge. The suspect and her two accomplices did not match any database entries for personnel authorized to possess such destructive weaponry, and they insisted the discharge was accidental. All three were airborne under their own power of flight. Hypothesized unregistered Supers, all of Magic origin. Upon interrogation, the suspects claimed to be bluesiders from outside of Paragon City’s jurisdiction, Code: Ghostbuster, and that they are on the trail of a redsider on the loose, confirmed sighted at the same location minutes prior. Redsider remains at large and dangerous. The suspects requested protective custody, which was granted.”

Ms. Liberty nodded. “I see. Do you believe them when they say they’re on our side?”

“I do, ma’am. Permission to speak freely?”

Ms. Liberty turned to face the officer, cocking her brow, the red mask around her eyes crinkling at the edges as she did. “Is there a need?”

“Yes, I…” A grin pulled apart the young warden’s lips and he nodded, sweeping his hands outward, “I just _need_ to tell you this story, it’s… an encounter for the ages,” he said, spreading his arms.

Ms. Liberty leaned away, eyes widening, then quickly nodded with a halfhearted shrug. “Okay, what happened?”

“Hoo, boy… our team was on the rooftops, weapons trained on the trio. As soon as we got there, my partner shouted,”

\--

“FREEZE!” The Longbow Officer shouted, rifle aimed.

“EEP—” Marisa froze motionless in midair on her broom, eyes bulging, mini-hakkero in her hand, wisps of rainbow-colored smoke rising from its center.

The uniformed gunners on the rooftops cocked their guns, red-and-white star-spangled spandex tights hugging every muscled inch of their bodies.

The Warden boomed through a bullhorn, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you—”

Marisa flatly babbled, “I didn’ do it.”

The warden pointed accusingly at the small magical reactor. “Yeah, pardon me if I don’t buy it.” He confidently planted his fists on his hips.

Marisa looked down and jittered at the sight of the smoke, fumbling and nearly dropping the hakkero as she hastily swung her arms to tuck it behind her back. “I… did not… MEAN to do it… is what I meant.”

The warden pointed again. “So you DID do it!”

“Uh—”

Reimu slapped her palm against her own face.

Eyes drawing an arc above her, Marisa gestured randomly with both arms, mini-hakkero still in her hand. “Well, y’see, I, uh… _accidentally…_ ”

The warden tapped a targeting reticle over his eye and zoomed in on the mini-hakkero. Digital lines drew toward its center, and it displayed a readout: _CLASSIFICATION: MASS-DESTRUCTION-CLASS WEAPON. ORIGIN: MAGIC. SIGNS OF RECENT DISCHARGE._

The reticle zoomed in on Marisa’s face next. _SPECIES: HUMAN, NO ABNORMALITIES. **CRITICALLY** **SIGNIFICANT MANA SIGNATURE DETECTED.** SEARCHING METAHUMAN REGISTRY … … … … NO MATCH FOUND. **POWER LEVEL WITHIN RANGE OF ARCH-VILLAIN CLASSIFICATION. EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.** PROBABLE POWER ORIGIN: MAGIC. PROBABLE ARCHETYPE: BLASTER. ESTIMATED SECURITY LEVEL: 50 + 3._

The warden’s eyes popped, then he mumbled to his partner, “she’s an AV.”

His face pulled away from his gun. “Whoa. What level?”

“Cap plus _three.”_

Eyes wide and tilting to the ground, and he lowered his gun and touched the back of his head. “Are we even equipped for that?”

The warden shook his head. “Not a chance. If she _was_ the source of that discharge, she could obliterate whole _sections_ of the city with one attack, maybe even the _whole_ city. If she resisted, she could snuff us out like a candle and there’s nothing we can do to stop her. Hopefully, she surrenders.” The warden turned to Marisa and raised his bullhorn. “You’re not in the Metahuman Registry! You’re not authorized to possess that kind of firepower! Why do you have a weapon of mass destruction?”

Beads of sweat on her brow, Marisa shrugged with a guilty grin, shoulders bobbing for emphasis. “Well in dangerous times like these, _every_ gal oughtta have one, officer!”

The warden and the officer blinked and leaned back in disbelief.

Reimu’s hand slid down her face, pulling her lip as it went, baring clenched teeth as her arm quivered with rage.

The officer shouted, “Lady, are you insane!?”

Marisa pinched a tiny bit of air with a wink. “Li’l bit.”

Reimu’s nails pressed into her face as she muttered _, “shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up!”_

Sumireko timidly steepled her fingers. “Uh, Mors? We have the right to remain silent,” she said, nodding with a crooked smile.

Marisa glanced to her, cocking her brow. “We got the right _not_ to remain silent?”

Grimacing, Sumireko glanced sideways and gave a halfhearted nod. “—Yes, but…”

Marisa firmly nodded. “Okay, then.”

She momentarily slid one hand out and flicked her finger for emphasis. “That means you _don’t_ have to answer their questions.”

Marisa turned. “Wait, really?”

“And you probably shouldn’t until we get a lawyer to advise us, because anything we say _can and will_ be used against us in a court of law. Like they said.”

Marisa scratched the back of her head, face scrunched with confusion. “Yeah, I didn’t follow on any o’ that, what’s that mean?”

“It means if you say something incriminating _at any point_ , they can treat it as evidence of a crime and you can go to prison.”

Marisa’s face exploded with worry. “UHHHH-”

Reimu snarled, hunched over and gazing ahead, jaw clenching like a vice, dark wrinkles under her eyes as one twitched.

Sumireko spread her arms at her sides. “And since we’re with you, we might _also_ get in trouble.” Fingertips touched to her chest. “I’m only 16, so I’m probably too young to go to prison,” she leaned her head at Reimu, “but you and Reimu—"

Reimu snapped toward Sumireko. “WHAT!?” Eyes wild, clenched fists at her sides.

Momentarily petrified, Sumireko shakily nodded. “Yeah, you might be held as an accomplice or an accessory.”

The officer pointed. “Wait a sec! Is she a _minor!?_ Does she at least have a license!?”

The warden scanned her. “Blue number, looks like an SK…”

_SPECIES: HUMAN, PARANORMAL ANOMALIES. PSYCHIC POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED, TYPE: ESP. SEARCHING METAHUMAN REGISTRY … … … … NO MATCH FOUND. PROBABLE POWER ORIGIN: MAGIC. PROBABLE ARCHETYPE: CONTROLLER. ESTIMATED SECURITY LEVEL: 49._

He shook his head. “She’s not in the database either.”

The officer gaped, aghast, then folded his arms. “Child endangerment! You people disgust me!”

Reimu’s red eyes began to glow. “Rrrrrrrrrrrr…!”

Marisa inched away, arms cautiously pushing outward. “Reimu, calm down.”

Sumireko rubbed Reimu’s shoulders. “Deep breaths, Reimers. In~,” she sucked air in, hand flowing upward around her chest, “and out.”

Through bared teeth, Reimu took in all the breath she could hold, then flung her head back and pressed her hands against her own face, blasting all the air out at once. **_“HRRH!”_**

“Breathe in~,” Sumi sucked air in and Reimu followed her lead, “and out.”

Reimu shuddered as she exhaled.

“In~”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Reimu slowly breathed in, then exhaled a full breath on her own.

“Good! Just like we practiced! Let the tension out of your shoulders. Relax your arms.”

Relaxing her shoulders, Reimu sighed out the last of her anger. “Thank you.”

“No problem!”

Marisa triumphantly snapped her fingers, pumping her arm. “Nice work, kiddo!”

Reimu massaged an eye with her palm. “Yeah, that could’ve been… ugly.”

Marisa’s shoulders sank and she pushed her fingers together. “Reimu… I, uh…”

Reimu waved it off, weakly flipping her wrist and shaking her head. “It’s okay. I can take a nap if I’m in prison.”

Marisa smiled brightly. “Yeah! You needed a vacation.”

Reimu smiled and nodded. “I did, and you know what? This works for me. I did what I could, but they’re not Youkai, I can’t just kill them all.”

Marisa scoffed. “Not like you kill Youkai anyway.”

The warden and the officer looked at each other, squinting.

The warden rubbed his chin in thought. “You getting a sense of Déjà vu?”

The officer nodded. “I feel like I’ve _been in_ this scene before.”

“Totally.” The warden scanned Reimu.

_SPECIES: HUMAN, NO ABNORMALITIES. **MASSIVE DIVINE POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED,** **SOURCE: MULTIPLE.** PHYSICAL STRENGTH WELL ABOVE AVERAGE. SEARCHING METAHUMAN REGISTRY … … … … NO MATCH FOUND. **WARNING! INDICATIONS STRONGLY SUGGEST INCARNATE-CLASS ARCH-VILLAIN. IMMEDIATE EVACUATION ADVISED.** PROBABLE POWER ORIGIN: MAGIC. PROBABLE ARCHETYPE: BRUTE. ESTIMATED SECURITY LEVEL: 50 + 4._

“Plus _four!_ The red one’s on par with the likes of Lord Recluse! Power comes from the gods and it’s so high this thing’s yelling at me.”

The officer slapped his forehead. “I know why this seems familiar! It’s a Code: Ghostbuster!”

The warden turned. “Crossover?”

He nodded. “Yeah, _that’s_ why they’re not in the system!”

“Then… hang, you think…?” The warden turned back to the girls. “You think they’re blueside?”

The officer nodded. “They’re heroes for sure. Only heroes are ever _this_ dysfunctional.”

Stars twinkled in Reimu’s eyes as she clasped her hands at her cheek with a smile. “Does this mean I’m not going to prison?”

Sumireko triumphantly pumped her fist in the air. “We’re the good guys from Gensokyo!”

Marisa grumpily interjected. “We’re _heroines.”_

Sumireko continued, “Well I’m not actually _from_ Gensokyo, but—”

The officer quickly shook his head. “Well, I meant more ‘heroes’ as a general concept, ma’am.”

The warden pat him on the shoulder. “Bluesiders. Be PC.”

Sumireko poked her fingers together. “—it’s not that important anyway.”

Marisa protested. “No no, it’s not about political correctness or whatever, I just—”

The warden held his arms out in a halting motion. “We understand, ma’am, but it IS about that for us, it’s protocol.”

Marisa glanced away, then nodded. “Arright, sure.”

Sumireko made a sideways glance. “You’re not going to object to being called dysfunctional?”

Marisa shrugged incredulously. “Do functioning adults get in trouble for accidentally firing a weapon o’ mass destruction in a place where it could kill a _whole_ _lotta_ _people?”_

Sumireko nodded. “Point taken.”

The warden continued. “See, when _Villains_ get this dysfunctional, they start killing each other or throwing each other under the bus when they get caught. You all seem to be friends at least, and… let’s be honest, you could have _easily_ killed us all if you wanted.”

The officer pointed to Reimu. “You! Red! By any chance, are you a Chosen One who was born into the job but never asked for the job and wishes she could quit?”

Shaking her head, Reimu tossed both hands forward. “No, I don’t wish I could quit, I _love_ this job. I’m just _tired._ ”

The warden snapped toward the ground. “Awwh!”

The officer pounded the air. “So close!”

Reimu shrugged. “It’s a pretty sweet gig, actually. I get phenomenal cosmic power, and respect, and job security, and free donated food sometimes—”

Marisa vigorously waved her hand. “Wait wait wait, did you just read her character archetype?”

Reimu scowled and plopped her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t finished, Marisa.”

Marisa raised a finger. “Did you miss the whole—”

“A nice house with a great view,” Reimu continued, counting off with her fingers.

Marisa facepalmed.

Reimu flattened her feet and a square barrier floor appeared underneath her, floating in midair. She paced along it. “All the friends I could ever want—” new barriers formed as she took steps that would have touched only thin air, “everyone comes to my parties—"

Snickering with her palm against her face, Marisa shook her head. “You’re info-dumping again.”

Reimu scowled again. “I know, shut up!” She resumed. “I get to set my own hours, I get to feel needed, and when I _am_ needed, I get to whoop some ass and feel like a badass in a big beautiful colorful Danmaku battle—” she turned and leveled her finger at the wardens “that’s _fun,_ by the way, that’s _so_ much fun. One time this one bitch,” she mimed a vague height around her chest level “this fake-posh four-foot-nothing vampire baby bitch—"

Marisa wheezed and started to cackle. “HHHH—HAH HAH HAH HAH…!”

Reimu swiped her hand flatly and shook her head. “She didn’t wanna do the battle. She was like,” she screeched in a mocking falsetto, “‘nuh-uh, I have the—’” Reimu straightened her back and mimed an exaggerated, aristocratic throat clear, “‘Eh-hem~.’”

 ** _“AHAH-HAH-HAH, THAT’S WHAT SHE’S LIKE…! AAAH! AAAHAHAHA!”_** Marisa fell over backward laughing, dangling from her broom by her legs, catching her hat as it fell off her head and swinging her arms wildly.”

Reimu strode haughtily, pinching her skirt by the side in one hand, elongating every word, “‘I~ possess the power to alter fate, and I don’t have to do _battle_ , I just win.’” Reimu returned to normal, eyelids lazily sagging half-open, “and nobody fuckin’ liked that, and I had a job to do, so I was like,” she forcefully pointed with every shout for emphasis, “‘No you CAN’T do that, you HAVE to do the big bright bullet hell battle it’s the LAW!’” Falsetto, “‘Really?’” Normal, “‘YES, REALLY!’” Reimu shrugged, “and I was fucking bluffing.”

Marisa doubled over, screeching with laughter, hanging from the broom by her waist ** _. “BAHAHAAA, HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!”_**

The Longbow agents started to laugh as well.

Reimu proudly nodded. “She laughs at everything I do.” She continued, “Yeah, there _is_ a law now, we had to make it because of her, but up to that point, it’s just what we always did and I didn’t like that we weren’t doing it that time, and baby bitch called my bluff, she wanted—”

Marisa squealed gleefully in the back of her throat, “You’re calling ‘er _baby bitch!?”_

Reimu shrugged at her incredulously. “Yeah! She’s not _here_ right now, she can kiss my big brown ass, making that much work for me!” She tossed her arms in the air and turned back to the agents. “So baby bitch—”

The Longbow agents cackled.

Reimu continued. “She asked me for the rulebook so she could ‘brush up before the battle’ or something, so I had to _run home,_ and quickly _write the fucking rulebook of Danmaku_ in my living room, and then _get it printed_ , and then pass ‘em out to everybody and make sure they understood,” she pointed with both arms at Marisa, behind her, “and the entire fucking time I was working, _she_ ’s bitching that I didn’t make enough new rules that made it easier for _her_ to win!”

Marisa sat up and swung her fist in protest. “Hey, I was just making sure you made a ruleset that wasn’t biased against wider body types, _Reimu!”_

“I _made_ a rule that attacks have to be dodgeable, and yes, that DOES mean the gaps have to be at least wide enough for your opponent’s body to fit through, _Marisa!_ God, you are the _worst_ loser in the world, you _always_ make excuses, you are _always_ the one complaining we don’t make the gaps big enough for you—”

Marisa heatedly pointed. “You can fit through gaps that I can’t and that’s a _fact!”_

“I weave through gaps that aren’t even intended to be _gaps!”_ Reimu protested, tossing her hands up and slapping them against her sides. “Not every little space between every bullet in every attack needs to be a _dodgeable_ gap for every opponent as long as there’s a way! You have a better win/loss record than _everyone but me_ , and we _do_ measure the gaps with a replay every time you complain, and we are _always_ making them big enough, so you’re not losing because the rules are not fair for your body type _or_ because of some magical-alignment bullshit—”

Marisa scoffed and looked away with arms folded.

“—you just _dodge_ _too much_ because you don’t slow down enough!”

Marisa continued to look away. “I got a lotta momentum, I can’t help it.”

“At least you’re short! I’m tall and swole as hell, you think I don’t feel the burn too sometimes? It’s not _my_ fault the only speeds you can go are ‘way too fucking fast’ and ‘still _slightly_ too fucking fast!’”

Marisa glared out the corner of her eyes. “Why would you make Survival Spell Cards legal?”

Reimu threw her arms out. “BECAUSE THEY’RE GREAT!”

Marisa swung her fists in the air. “THEY’RE THE WORST! Who the hell makes it legal to have a time-sink where one person can’t even shoot their opponent in a game about _shooting people!?”_ She huffed and folded her arms. “The only people who enjoy Survival Cards are lame showoffs!”

Reimu swished her silky black hair ever so proudly. “Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of all my pacifist run championship medals clinking together.”

Marisa forcefully jabbed her finger forward. “EXACTLY! _EXACTLY_ WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!”

Reimu folded her arms. “You’re just upset that there are things you can’t cheese through with a giant fuck-you laser.”

Marisa hopped to her feet on the broom with both fists in the air. “YES, because the giant fuck-you laser is my signature schtick!” She leaned in at her face with fists on her sides.

Reimu shrugged and shook her head. “That’s what you get for insisting on a philosophy of Danmaku being all about power, and if you _could_ cheese through everything that got too hard for you with a giant fuck-you laser, that wouldn’t be fair for anyone else.”

Marisa pulled away from her face.

“They’re legal _literally because_ people like you would be unstoppable without them. Danmaku really would, then, be all about power, and the intended purpose of Danmaku is to level the playing field between people with vastly different power levels!” Reimu sternly frowned. “You have a Survival Card too.”

Turning away, Marisa rolled her eyes and scoffed.

Reimu looked down at her with hands on her hips. “Blazing Star, one of your coolest and most effective attacks.”

Marisa spun back around. “Who cares!? Survival Cards suck as a _principle!_ You’re telling me I have to give up my best quality,” she clapped her hands to a thundering bang and six Options flew out of her pockets and above her head, “my awesomely destructive firepower,” the options blasted rainbow-colored lasers and a spray of star-shaped bullets into the sky, dozens of firework-like explosions following as they reached the end of their range, then she looked down, “which magnifies my WORST quality,” she held her stomach then pat her hips from the sides, “my width as a target!?” She folded her arms and looked aside. “Everyone knows all they have to do to win is do that to me!” She waved her arms in a melodramatic shrug. “How is that supposed to be fun for anyone!?” She dropped back down in her seat on the broom without changing her altitude an inch, then swept her hands up in front of Reimu’s face. “Pass! Zero outta ten.” She spun the other way, crossed her legs, and folded her arms.

Reimu pat her shoulder and peeked around it. “But isn’t it really great to see the look on someone’s face when you beat them anyway?”

Marisa tried not to smile.

Reimu poked Marisa’s cheek. “And you do~”

Marisa blushed, her lips twisting against each other in two directions. “Well… that’s just cuz I’m awesome.”

Reimu smiled. “Admit it, you think they’re exciting sometimes too.”

Marisa huffed. “Maybe. Doesn’t mean I can’t still be mad at you for a rule specifically made to single me out.”

Reimu straightened her back, holding a hand out with her other hand on her hip. “Well, Marisa, I’m _sorry_ you didn’t get to abuse the fact that you have my ear on everything to tailor the rules that _everyone_ must follow to _your_ strengths,” she clasped her hands behind her back, twisted her legs, and leaned up to the sky, “but you’re selling yourself short. You have qualities I would consider far better than firepower,” her eye slid around to the side, where Marisa sat, and she smiled devilishly, reaching for Marisa’s sides, fingers eagerly twiddling, “and if you ask me, your fat ass is far from your worst.” She gave her chubby sides a quick squeeze and then dodged away.

 ** _“SHU’TH’FUGGUP!!”_** Marisa swung around and semi-gently pounded her fists down at Reimu, each swing leaving a rainbow in its wake and sprinkling stars with a telltale magical jingle. **_“SHUTTUP SHUTTUP SHUTTUP SHUTTUP SHUTTUP!”_**

Reimu shielded her face with a giant happy smile, squealing and giggling as the stars harmlessly tickled her. “Aah~! Aah~! Aahahaaah~!”

The warden pointed at Marisa. “YOU!”

Reimu and Marisa froze, then Marisa gasped and clutched her temples. “Oh _crap_ I did it again! And they were ** _right there…!”_** She covered her face. “Stars above, I’m so stupid…”

The Warden continued. “I’m gonna guess you’re the hyper, impulsive, easily-excitable stupid one, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think in spite of the fact that literally everyone bullies you, you’re not just comic relief, you _are_ cool, and even your worst critics gotta admit you’re the life of the party, the heart of your team. You’re important to everyone for your charisma alone, and if you weren’t there, things would _never_ be the same without you.”

Stars twinkled in Marisa’s golden eyes as she clapped her fists together against her chest. “YES! YOU GOT IT!” A speeding blur, she zipped in the air around the warden, chummily patting him, shaking his hand, throwing magical confetti, and making other congratulatory gestures from all around him, “HALLEY’S COMET, YOU NAILED IT ON THE FIRST TRY, I’M SO PROUDA YOU~!” She nudged his face with her elbow.

The gunners’ weapons all clicked at once as their safeties turned off, laser sights drawing a dozen beads all over Marisa’s body.

Marisa froze and raised her hands. “AAH-!”

Reimu screamed and reached out, terror in her eyes, **_“MARISA!!”_**

The warden shouted and motioned to halt, “HOLD FIRE, HOLD FIRE!”

Reimu teared up, hands praying. “Please don’t hurt her…! She was just being friendly, she can’t sit still, she can’t help it, she wouldn’t hurt a fly! She’s not dangerous, she’s just stupid.”

 ** _“SO_** stupid.” Marisa twisted her body side to side, emphasizing from deep inside her chest.

“Stand down!” The warden shooed Marisa off as the fireteam lowered their weapons. “All right, go on!”

Marisa flew back to Reimu’s side and they held each other’s hands at their waists, gazing in each other’s eyes with concern tinged with relief.

The officer shook his head. “Why are the Blasters always the impulsive hyper stupid ones?”

The warden winked at his team. “Watch this.” He turned to the girls. “So which one of you is the sidekick?”

Reimu and Marisa pointed at each other and asserted in unison, “She is.”

“Nailed it!” The warden pumped his fist in the air and the Longbow agents all laughed.

Reimu and Marisa let go of each other, straightened up, and blushed.

The warden nodded. “Never fails. Are you two in a relationship?”

Reimu and Marisa burst into laughter, flinging their arms around each other’s shoulders. Reimu happily smiled. “What gave it away?”

The warden pointed to Sumireko. “Well, ignoring the _massive_ sexual tension the two of you radiate, you have a teenage sidekick with psychic powers _right there_ and _neither_ of you pointed at her, and that’s just a dead giveaway.”

The lovebirds gleefully tittered, grinning with their foreheads together. Reimu nodded. “It’s something we’ve done since we were kids.”

Marisa shrugged with her free hand. “We gotta, y’know? Feels wrong if we don’t.”

Reimu and Marisa smiled tenderly at each other, holding each other’s hands around their chests.

The officer nodded. “Yeah, they’re blueside.”

The warden switched on his radio. “HQ, this is Warden Epsilon 556, we have a confirmed accidental discharge of a mass destruction class weapon in a residential area. Suspect is friendly. Code: Ghostbuster. Over.”

Sumireko sprung up. “Wait! Did you say _I’m_ a sidekick!?”

Not turning away from Marisa, Reimu nodded tenderly. “Yes, Sumi, you are our sidekick.”

 ** _“POG!!”_** Sumireko hugged herself, twisting and grimacing with a glee that threatened to split her open. “I AM A SIDEKICK TO THE TWO COOLEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!!”

The officer bemusedly shook his head. “Oh no, she’s one of _those._ ”

The warden chuckled, nodding. “Dated-lingo-slinging Gamer sidekick, yup.” He clicked his radio again. “HQ, do you copy?” The warden turned to the officer. “My radio’s inop.”

The officer nodded. “On it.” He turned and walked away. “HQ, this is Officer Delta 556, repeating a prior message…”

Reimu and Marisa were too busy gazing into each other’s eyes to hear anything else.

The warden nodded. “Yeah, we see this at _least_ once a week.” Reimu and Marisa turned to him. “The couples always bicker like that, and for some reason about 60 percent of them are gay.”

Marisa proudly nodded. “The rainbows ain’t just for show y’know.”

The warden nodded vigorously. “Oh, yeah, we noticed. And in spite of all your bickering,” he pointed to Reimu, “she _screamed_ and started crying when she thought you were in danger, and you’ve got this really powerful chemistry where you bounce off each other in really fun ways and know exactly where the line is, where you call each other out and piss each other off for fun, but you know how to do that without hurting each other, and it’s clear you both love every minute of it. It’s like you’re married.”

Reimu nodded. “We are.” She slid down onto the broom beside Marisa and slid her arms around her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek.

Marisa’s lips crinkled into a crooked, bashful smile as she blushed, fiddling with the jeweled star ring on her finger. “Sh-she got the rings…” Her eyes glistened, emotion swelling through her as she shakily sighed. “Still get butterflies remembering the day. Was incredible.”

Reimu nodded. “I don’t think even our wedding was as carefully planned. These rings are special.” She displayed her own ring, which had a jeweled yin-yang orb and a glowing golden star hovering above it. “They can show us where the other is if we’re far apart, and if we’re close, they glow with the symbol of the other.”

Shakily breathing, Marisa displayed her own ring, which glowed with a hovering yin-yang orb. “Easier to see it from the top lookin’ down.”

The warden gaped. “Holy _crap._ Did you…?”

“Abuse my Chosen One cred to get these?” Reimu nodded. “Yes I did.” She smugly purred, pinching Marisa’s chubby cheek, “I abused my power maliciously, and it was all worth it.” She kissed Marisa on the cheek again and snuggled against her.

Marisa tilted the brim of her hat down over her face to hide how much she was blushing.

Reimu rubbed Marisa’s collarbone. “We celebrated our first anniversary a few months ago.” She closed her eyes, resting her head on her shoulder. “Every moment I’m with her I’m the happiest woman alive.”

Marisa whimpered. “Reimu don’t you dare make me cry in front of these people, or I’ll… I’ll…” she chuckled, “I’ll cry a whole lot I tell ya!”

Reimu’s smile widened. “But I’m your wife. I’m supposed to make you happy, it’s my job.”

Marisa covered her face and whimpered again.

The warden pushed his hands out. “Okay, you two, get a room.”

Reimu gasped, straightened up, and took off again. “Oh! Could you help us with that? We’re not from around here and I don’t feel like going all the way back home. We just got here.”

He backed away, sweatdrops seeping through the back of his full-head mask. “Uh… I suppose…?”

Marisa feebly raised a finger, “I-it’s not even that far—”

Reimu winked at her with a grin and held a shushing finger to her lips.

Marisa facepalmed, every visible inch of skin on her body a blazing bright pink.

\--

Frazzled and irritable, Ms. Liberty hung her head, leaning over her desk. “They sound… very… very charming…”

Warden Epsilon 556 sighed. “I’m afraid the fun ends there, though. I’m sure you’re aware by now, but… well, it was a surprise for me at the time.”

\--

The warden blinked rapidly. “Wait, not that far?”

Still brightly blushing, Marisa grumbled. “Her house is like ten minutes away, she got us in the bubble with ‘er cheat technique.”

Reimu shot her fists to her sides and glared at her. “Shh!!”

The warden’s face wrenched askew with confusion. “Cheat…?”

Reimu rolled her eyes. “I can open any seal or lock at all just by touching it, she calls it my—”

He held his hands out. “Waitwaitwaitwait—you said a ‘bubble’?”

Reimu cocked an eyebrow. “Have you… looked outside recently?” Reimu waved her finger along the side at the glowing energy shield walls surrounding Atlas Park.

“Outside the war walls?” The officer tapped the warden’s shoulder and he turned around. “What is it?”

The officer was pale. “Either my radio’s inop too, or… something’s up. HQ’s not responding. _Nobody’s_ responding outside of Atlas Park. I got ahold of Ms. Liberty, but… that’s it.”

The warden stared with worry, eyes sliding toward the girls. “How did you three get into the Primal Earth dimension?”

“ _Tsk_ , ooooh…” Marisa groaned, gently pounding her lap, “he doesn’t know.”

Reimu lazily shook her head. “We didn’t.” She pointed at the war walls. “Take a look and see. You need a lift?”

“No, I got it.” The warden took off, flying under his own power, and as he crested above the concrete base of the war walls, where the rest of Paragon City should have been was nothing but an unfamiliar landscape. Wilderness, a small rural village, a ruined and cratered mountain in the distance, a red torii gate near a shrine atop a hill, a mansion on the far end near a lake. The rest of Paragon City was gone, and Atlas Park was now sitting inside a bubble high in the sky, separate from the rest of its new surroundings.

The warden slowly sank back down to the others, unable to form a thought.

Reimu pat him on the shoulder. “Welcome to Gensokyo, I guess.”

\--

Ms. Liberty looked up, tightened over her desk. “Do we have any idea why this is happening?”

Epsilon 556 shook his head. “Not a clue, ma’am. We only know the prime suspect in its execution. The three heroines claim to have driven her back at great cost. They called her ‘V’. We had them help us search the database and it turned out that we misunderstood; it wasn’t the letter V, it was the name Vi. Lady Vi. What we found is a chilling profile of a threat we currently lack the capability to defeat. A Dominator, and an Avatar.” He dropped a folder on her desk, several pages sliding out as it landed.

Liberty massaged the bridge of her nose. “A player character…”

He nodded solemnly. “A Main at that. Many players get Alt-itis and create dozens of characters they spread their time across. Not _her_ maker. Of all her maker’s creations, she got almost _all_ the love, and that means she’s _loaded_. Soft-capped defenses, permanent Domination, permanent Hasten, every Incarnate ability currently in existence at full power, and more hit points than an average Scrapper.”

Liberty frowned wearily. “That’s _my_ archetype… and that’s _very_ high for a Dominator.”

“And her maker literally wrote the book for playing that kind of Dominator. She’s _incredibly_ competent.”

She opened the folder. The picture showed a tall, black-caped muscular woman with piercing blue eyes and very short black hair, costumed in blue-and-black power armor with layered shoulder plates adorned with spikes.

_VILLAIN NAME: LADY VI  
SPECIES: HUMAN-LIKE MUTANT, HEAVY SECONDARY GENETIC MODIFICATIONS  
POWER ORIGIN: MUTATION  
ARCHETYPE: DOMINATOR  
THREAT LEVEL: 50 + 3  
PRIMARY POWERSET: MIND CONTROL  
SECONDARY POWERSET: ENERGY ASSAULT  
ANCILLARY POWERSET: PRIMAL FORCES MASTERY_

_NOTES: EXTREMELY MANIPULATIVE. INCARNATE-CLASS AVATAR AT THE PEAK OF POTENTIAL. POSSIBLY THE MOST POWERFUL DOMINATOR CURRENTLY IN EXISTENCE. MULTIPLE CONFIRMED SOLO KILLS OF ARCH-VILLAIN CLASS ENTITIES. KILL LIST INCLUDES GODS AND THREATS WITH WORLD-ENDING CAPABILITY. CAPABLE OF ANNIHILATING ENTIRE ARMIES SINGLEHANDEDLY. SURVIVORS REPORT SEVERE, DEBILITATING, AND OFTEN PERMANENT MENTAL TRAUMA; SURVIVOR SUICIDE RATE: 43%. ONLY WEAKNESS: RELIES HEAVILY ON MIND CONTROL. CAN EASILY BE DEFEATED IF CONTROL IS RESISTED. SOLO KILLS OF ARCH-VILLAIN CLASS ENTITIES SUGGESTS THIS IS FAR EASIER SAID THAN DONE._

Ms. Liberty sighed. “‘Far easier said than done’ indeed. She’s a perma-dom. Dominators start weak, but their power quickly skyrockets once they pass _that_ threshold. With that many Purples, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could out-hold even Ghost Widow.”

He nodded. “She has. Ghost Widow was her first AV kill.”

She glanced away. “Figures. What better way to prove you’re the best than to topple the best in your own league?”

“The Heroines are so battered from their last encounter with her that they _need_ to rest today, and they can’t rest easy knowing she’s still out there and could strike at any time. Your presence would give them peace of mind and would probably help, knowing they aren’t alone. Unfortunately, our Police Drone sentries are basically the only things we have that could keep her away. In the past, she’s defeated every single one of Lord Recluse’s most powerful lieutenants, each equivalent in power to you, all while they were flanked by their armies. With everything gone but Atlas Park, we don’t even _have_ an army. Even our very namesake, the heroes who once populated the city, many of whom frequented Atlas Park as a social hub, are all gone. She’s the _only_ Avatar we’ve been able to find. It’s as if they’ve all vanished, and she’s the only one left.”

She massaged her forehead. “The one to survive just _had_ to be a Villain. Go figure.”

“Even with all of us currently combined, we couldn’t possibly defeat her. The two big ones, Reimu and Marissa, are currently the only combatants capable of defeating her, and they have done so. They claim the witch, Marissa, vaporized her body with an attack equal to the one she fired in Atlas Park, but Vi somehow fully recovered.”

Liberty scowled and grumbled. “Of course she did. She’s a player character, they never die, they just go to the hospital and come out good as new in seconds.”

Epsilon 556 hesitated. “About that…” He took in a breath. “The medical teleporter system is down.”

Ms. Liberty’s eyes flashed up to him in shock.

“The central node of the medi-porter system is located in Skyway City, formerly next door. That’s the node we relied on. The rest of the nodes are on the outskirts of the city, and Atlas Park is in the center. With those gone, everyone would have to be brought in manually, and even with our medical technology as good as it is, their likelihood of survival drops like a stone with each passing second, and we certainly can’t reconstruct a body from vaporized atoms without the medi-porters.”

Liberty’s jaw slowly fell, head tilting down. “…then how did _she_ come back?”

“We don’t know. But she did. That means she has an unfair advantage here: _she_ can come back from even complete annihilation, but we can’t. We’re sitting ducks. If she attacked, she’d wipe us out for sure. Even if not at first, she has unlimited lives to try again.”

Liberty covered her eyes with her hand and sank into her chair, elbows resting on her desk. _“Has_ she attacked?”

“That’s the strange part, ma’am. Not only has she not attacked anyone, nobody’s seen hide or hair of her since the incident yesterday. The heroines report she didn’t even attack _them_ , she showed up to taunt them and then left. I…” he looked to the door to make sure it was closed, “…I believe the discharge yesterday was more of an emotional outburst than an _accident._ When Vi came up in the conversation, Marissa became shockingly and uncharacteristically venomous. They tell me Marissa is also normally extremely careful around innocent civilians to the point of stubbornness, loathe even to use an attack of _lesser_ magnitude in completely controlled conditions, even if being _told_ to show off. What happened, they won’t even say. She does _not_ like Lady Vi.”

Liberty held her chin and stared into space. “Vi must have known that would happen… so she was probably manipulating her into doing so.”

“Probably with the goal of causing untold collateral damage without pinning it on her own conscience. _Hundreds_ would be dead if not for the sidekick, Sumireko, redirecting the attack upward at the last second.”

Liberty continued to stare. “But someone as experienced as Vi is would know that that redirect was a possibility, even a probable outcome. Maybe she didn’t even intend to do damage. Maybe she only intended to get our attention by goading Marissa into firing that attack, and if I’m right…” her eyes focused and she slowly turned to the warden “…then she was introducing us to each other.”

“…I don’t follow. What would she gain from that?”

Liberty stood up. “This is a Code: Ghostbuster. Two streams of fiction and fantasy have crossed over.” She paced around her desk. “Ignore the mechanics for now and think about it narratively: what makes a good Crossover? Fun, meaningful interactions between both sides. You want it to go on, you want to see more. It’s kinda like introducing two separate groups of friends to each other and hoping they get along, and if they do, you wanna see them get into all sorts of familiar scenarios that are new to the ones who haven’t experienced them yet.”

“What does that have to do with the current situation?”

Liberty stopped. “…I’m not sure if the girls know yet, but…” she sighed “…the world ended years ago. Primal Earth is dead, along with Praetoria, Ouroboros, and everything else. Their goal might be to put things back to normal, and if they put us back where we were, we go back to oblivion. If Vi put us here, then… she _saved_ us. She more than likely wants to bring the rest of the City into Gensokyo as well, and then follow with the rest of our world. If she did that, the crossover would become all-encompassing and complete. We would exist inside the same universe, and we would have a permanent home again.”

The warden’s eyes bulged and unfocused. “Then…”

“If the girls succeed in stopping her, we will die again. We may need to ensure that Vi’s plan _succeeds_ , even if she _is_ only doing it for the sake of her own survival,” she firmly struck the air with her finger, “ **but.** Remember the report? Vi’s survivors report severe mental trauma. She’s a Villain, so all she can do is cause trouble, and she can’t fight effectively without her mind control powers, so she has to put them at risk every time they face her. They’re already on the brink. She knows she can’t keep pushing them like that or else they’ll break. They might be critical to the survival of Gensokyo itself, and if we lose them, this world is doomed too.”

He bowed his head. “…so she’s giving them a break.”

“That’s right.” She began to pace again. “Of all the pieces of our world she could have brought back, why bring back Atlas Park if that’s enemy territory to her, and not to them?” She stopped in front of the warden. “Why else? She wants us to become friends, so we become too valuable to them to want to continue to do their duty to send us packing.”

A sad frown took his face, then hers.

She bowed her head, voice beginning to waver. “…and if we do that, we’re manipulating them. We may all be heroes, but our goals are opposed.” She turned away and leaned on her desk again. “We have a duty to protect the City, so that’s…” she covered her eyes “…we have to do it.” A tear slid down from under her glove.

Epsilon 556 nodded and looked away, on the verge of tears himself. “They’re… such wonderful people, ma’am. They don’t deserve it. But we don’t have a choice.”

“…I hate this job sometimes.” She straightened up again with a sniffling sigh, calming herself, becoming stoic once again. She stared out the one-way window, watching Reimu and Marisa walk together along the sidewalk across the street. She hardened. “What we’ve discussed today is top-secret. Eyes and ears, need-to-know only.”

He nodded. “Understood, ma’am.”

She nodded. “Dismissed.”

**Author's Note:**

> In the end, I decided not to continue writing the next chapter until I tell this story properly. It requires too much context to hit as hard as it should.
> 
> I'm leaving it up for now, but I'm probably not gonna continue the preview. Sorry.
> 
> Did you notice how the Americans keep saying Marisa's name "Marissa"? That's actually not a typo and that WAS gonna come up in the next chapter, but it's... nah, it's not happening yet. It needs to be written in order.


End file.
